


matchmaker

by magmaveins



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arranged Marriage, Drinking, Humanstuck, M/M, Mental Health Issues, POV Eridan Ampora, POV Second Person, Smoking, will add more tags as this goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-16 18:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3498374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magmaveins/pseuds/magmaveins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>how will you survive in a world where the government gets rid of social classes by deciding your life partner for you?</p><p>THIS STORY IS ON HIATUS UNTIL I GET MY MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE IT. sorry about the delay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue - 67

**Author's Note:**

> expect a new chapter every saturday unless stated otherwise.

You had filled your form exactly six months and seventeen days ago. You had dropped your form exactly six months and two days ago. They wanted to know the most ridiculous things; not only your social class and current occupation, but your hopes, dreams for the future, sleeping cycles, and shoe size.

You hadn't asked for this. No one ever asked for this. It's a scheme to offset the differences in living standards to make the world an easier place for politicians to deal with. They claim it'll result to eventual happiness for everyone in question, but you know better. They don't care about your happiness. They care about money and profit. All they see are numbers and lines in diagrams that reach for the skies. According to them you're not a person with feelings and free love interests. To them, you are Eridan Ampora, a dmab genderfluid pansexual with preference for men. To them, you are a twenty-seven-year-old manager who's supposed to take over your father's company that works in the field of pharmaceutics when the time comes. To them, you're an upper class biochemistry major with the aspirations to raise one child and end up in a stable relationship. You're a plot, not a human being.

Currently, you were holding a purple cup of espresso in your hands and staring out of the window. White snowflakes fell down from the blank sky, tapping against the stainless glass gently. Everything was calm and peaceful, the exact opposite of the storm that was raging inside you. The anxiety was beyond comprehension and your hands were shaking so much you constantly threw drops of coffee on your sweater. Your heart felt choked and you couldn't swallow down the lump sitting on the back of your throat. You knew this day would come, eventually, but you always hoped you wouldn't have to wake up to it in a long, long time.

The letter rest on the table, unopened, right next to today's paper. You didn't know why you still ordered the paper since you hardly ever had the time to read it. Everything you ever needed was in the internet, anyway. But there was something nostalgic about sitting down in the morning and flipping through the pages absently, eyeing the headlines, and taking in the mixed scent of just-pressed paper and too strong black coffee which reminded you about your childhood when your father still had the time for you. Nowadays, whenever you talked, it was just about clients, schedules and money. It made you sick.

Your eyes shuffled from the letter to your phone. As soon as you had noticed the letter, you had informed Feferi. "It came." You didn't even need to specify, everyone would've understood what it meant. She had responded with a simple "good luck", and even though that didn't seem too sympathetic, it still gave him courage. They had talked about it, when they had been younger, but started to avoid it when it had become topical.

After what seemed like forever, you reached out for the white paper. It felt thick, and your stomach made a thousand uncomfortable backflips. This was it. Your life as you knew it was over. You felt like throwing up, and managed to make a couple of wrinkles in the smooth paper while panic rushed through your veins.

_You have to do it eventually, Eridan, no one can help you now._

You rose so suddenly the chair made a screeching sound and wobbled on its feet before settled back down. The espresso was abandoned on the table as you rushed through the kitchen and found a knife, sliding it between your fingers, before skillfully ripping the letter open with it. You dropped the knife in the sink and waited for the sound bouncing off the walls to die down before collapsing down onto the floor. Three deep breaths and you closed your icy grey eyes (people always complimented how piercing they appeared, how awfully intimidating they could be) and pulled the stack of papers from the envelope. Every single piece scattered around you, but you still didn't open your eyes as you tossed the envelope as far as you just could with your back against the cabin right under the sink.

Another three deep breaths and you opened your eyes.

The first thing that caught your eye was a filled form awfully familiar to yours. The handwriting, however, was a strangers, but you didn't bother to read it through (you loved torturing yourself apparently, what a masochist). Instead of focusing on that paper, you scanned through the other ones and piled everything that had been written on computer. Yet another three deep breaths. You started to read.

It explained all the basics. _Congratulations, you have been chosen to make the world a better place!_ What a load of bullshit. You couldn't help but let out a scoff, but continued, anyway. Nothing was new for you, of course; they explained the system with a thick sugar coat curled around the words and tried to convince you this was the person you had fallen in love with. Which brought you to the next part. You abandoned those files and moved onto the other ones, the form and two photos attached to it.

_Sollux Captor._

You scanned the papers through with your icy eyes, squinting a bit and nibbling onto your lower lip. Your brows were furrowed in determination as you focused to get to know your soon-to-be husband. The more you read, the more the idea scared you and the more you wanted to flee from the country. He was nothing like your ideal match, but you had to admit that perhaps you shared some similarities, from what you read; he suffered from bipolar disorder and insomnia, while you struggled with mild anxiety, monophobia, and anger issues. His family had moved here from Korea when he had been three months old, to which you could relate. Your mother had been a Scandinavian, and you moved here when you had been two years old, after your mother had passed away. However, your interests didn't really go one in one, although there were some happy surprises in the paper. You knew they usually brought two nearly similar people together to trip them into thinking they had found the true love of their life.

Sollux didn't look like your ideal match either. Judging from the photos, he had an awful posture, and his limbs looked like noodles (you weren't sure how he was able to fully control them). You scanned the full-view photo through carefully before focused on more specific things. You could clearly tell he came from Eastern Asia, and his features seemed pointy and harsh, and the tip of his nose pointed a tad upwards. Thin lips, a bit of stubble on his chin, sideburns. His hair was dark, nearing pitch, and poked out in the most unnatural directions. You brought your hand up and trailed your fingertip over the tiny locks on the paper, wondering what it'd feel like against your palm. It seemed thick, while yours wasn't. Your curls compensated that fact pretty effectively, though, but you still felt a small bang of envy in the depths of your pounding heart.

Sollux didn't look happy. He looked mortified and sour, and you sort of hoped that wasn't the deal with him. But then again, you had looked exactly like that in your own photos. No one looked happy in these photos. Everyone looked mortified and sour. It was like taking a photo for your passport and driver's license.

Unable to look at the photos any longer, you tossed them aside and rose, leaving the paper hell right onto the floor. The only thing you took was your phone before you rushed out of the kitchen, passed the living room and headed right over to the front door. Your twenty-four pairs of shoes were sitting on the floor in a neat row, right next to a door mat that said "y'all ain't welcome here". You had gotten it from Vriska a few years back as a gift during your housewarming party. It was stupid and the humor was dry, but you had still kept it to this day for a reason that was hazy for you.

The weather was as calming as it had looked from the window. The snow flakes continued their journey down undisturbed, dotting your coat with white. Modest Mouse was singing soft tones in your ears and you took in the sight of the nearing winter. You loved winter. Everything was cold and pure and dark, and towards the end it nearly seemed like it was going to stay so forever, without nothing being able to grow again. Then came spring with blooming leaves and singing birds. It was a relieving feeling, and it had came back to you for those twenty-seven times you had been able to witness it. After daily hot cocoas, laying down on the grass to enjoy a cold beverage felt so much better.

You don't know how long you walked. Ever since wandering here for the first time, you knew you had to get a house from here. The nature was close and the neighbors were far, and the less you had to interact with irritating people, the better. It soothed your anxiety, although the downside of sometimes feeling lonely and scared had hit you hard. Maybe, when Sollux would move in, you'd be able to overcome your fears of being alone during the nights. Another presence would be welcomed. You just weren't sure if Sollux would be the first person you'd choose.

Actually, you were sure, and the answer was no.

Eyebrows knitting together into a bothered frown, you stopped wading through the snowy road and focused onto the trees that surrounded you, and you felt suffocated by the intimidating sight. Your hands were shaking again as you pulled out your phone from the pocket of your coat and unplugged your earplugs. Feferi's was the only favorited number in your contact list.

She picked up nearly instantly, her voice radiating familiar warmth and slight concern as she called your name questionably.

"He's awful."

By the time you were finished and got back inside to soothe your burning fingers, the cold espresso and the files were still waiting for you in the kitchen. You had nearly hoped they would've just magically disappeared while you had been gone, but it was stupid to even consider; magic wasn't real, anyway.


	2. 65

The first time he had called, you hadn't answered. He had tried again 15 minutes later, and you still didn't answer. You just watched blankly as the electronic device vibrated on the kitchen table, the screen flashing with Sollux's name splattered across it. You had already saved his phone number, just in case, but never dared to hit him up. The past two days had been sleepless and you were disgusted by the dark bags that had formed underneath you icy eyes. Work felt like hell when you wanted to pass out whenever you managed to sit down, and you still hadn't dared to look your father in the eyes yet and tell him that you were practically engaged.

Two glasses of classy red wine managed to set you on ease. You usually drank wine while having dinner, but it was Friday and you wanted to finish the whole bottle. You poured the rest from the bottle in your glass and watched in utter silence as the liquid stilled.

You grabbed the phone from the table and pressed Sollux's number on the screen without giving yourself the time to understand completely what was going on. It would be bad. You weren't supposed to think something this simple for so long. You were going to marry this idiot.

The thought struck you suddenly. _You were going to marry this idiot and you hadn't even met him yet_. The blood in your veins rushed straight to your heart, but before you could even give it a second thought, the beeping had stopped and you heard his voice against your ear.

"Hey."

You took a moment, managing to read his tone. It told you nothing, though, and you were pulled away from your puzzlement only when you heard his voice again, this time questionable.

"Eridan?"

"Yeah- yes. Hi." You swallowed thickly. "Sollux."

The line went silent, and you had to check the call hadn't ended. What were you supposed to say, anyway? _Hey, Sollux, it's your fiancé, I was just thinking how you're doing? Do you wanna come over to redecorate the house with me? You know, since you're moving here and all. I don't know you, but apparently I'm in love with you._

If it hadn't been Sollux, he could've probably said that out loud. But it was Sollux, and you had no idea how to talk to this person. Luckily, though, he carried the conversation on.

"So," he muttered, a rather bothered sigh rasping in your ear. "Pretty messed up, huh?"

That was utterly terrible, oh my God. You lingered on the fact that the other had a hard time pronouncing certain sounds for a while.

"Tell me about it." You sighed in contrast, swallowing down half a glass of wine in one stand to catch your courage and get back your ability to speak for hours non-stop. "Still kinda shocked ya know, never really thought this would actually happen. I mean I'm the first one from my friends, so don't really know how shit's supposed to go down."

Sollux let out a brief, sharp hum, the kind of sound you make when you're amused and probably smiling a bit. It sent a shiver down your spine and made your gut twist, but you didn't know if it was a good or a bad chill.

"Yeah, same. Hit me on the face. Don't know much about it, though, they'll explain it in the registrar on Sunday, I guess." His voice sounded as bothered and awkward as you felt, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Well, it made you anxious, sure, but also helped you to talk more when you knew you weren't the only one who was nervous about this. What a ridiculous situation; two grown men who didn't know how to converse properly. You huffed.

"They fuckin' better."

Sollux took a moment before let out a quiet "yeah". It made you feel weird, in a way you couldn't exactly put your finger on. "Guess I'll see you on Sunday, then."

You cleared your throat before answered, tapping your finger onto the hard, wooden surface of the table. The wine in your glass shook a bit.

"Later, Eridan."

"Bye."

You downed the rest of the wine and resisted the urge to throw your phone right through the window. It would've cost way too much for your liking, though, so you just carefully set it back onto the table.

\---

You thanked God for bringing make-up into this world; your sleeping hadn't really improved after the phone call with Sollux, and by the time Sunday rolled around, you weren't exactly glowing. A nice touch of foundation cream acted as your best friend in these kind of situations, and you finished it with your mad eyeliner skills. "Wings so sharp they could kill a man" was practically your life motto (it didn't make sense, but it sounded fantastic).

It took you exactly seven minutes before you dared to step out of your car and head over to the registration office. It was 11:46 am, according to your watch, as you stepped into the hall where a couple of people were sitting around, waiting (for the doomsday). Your eyes scanned through the people, a couple of them lifting their attention up to you as the heavy door pressed closed behind you. No one let their gaze linger for too long, though. It took you a moment to find Sollux; he was sitting in the corner, a couple of empty chairs next to his, his elbows resting on his knees as he was hunching over his phone.

After swallowing thickly, unable to get rid of that lump down your throat once again, you marched over to him. He seemed to be lost in his own mind, and you had to clear your throat before he marked your presence.

The way he stumbled up and shoved his phone in the pocket of his jacket honestly surprised you. Sollux clashed his lips together and wiped his mouth briefly on the back of his hand as he corrected his posture. Your eyes narrowed a tad under his gaze, and although you knew he was tall, you hadn't really imagined he'd tower you that much. Your vertex barely reached his chin.

"Hey," he broke the ice, his voice probably a tad off since he seemed to be embarrassed by it. You watched as he rubbed his palms on his thighs briefly, the tip of his tongue peeking out to wet his lips briefly. Instead of looking him straight in the eye, you stared at a dimple above his left eyebrow.

"Hi." Your voice sounded monotonous, a tad blank, maybe, and Sollux's hand shot up to rub his neck. He clearly had some social issues with people, you could tell; it was nearly endearing. The man gestured you to sit down, and he followed the suit as you did. You set your bag neatly on your lap, glancing over at him briefly. His eyes were fixed on you, and you had a bit of a staring contest while the silence fell over you.

The most interesting thing about him had been his eyes, ever since you had looked at the two photos of him. There was more emotion in them now, but you couldn't tell what you saw. They looked tired, obviously, and he had even worse eye bags than what you did. Your mind wandered back to the files you had buried in the drawer of your night desk. _Insomnia_. Your mind came back and you focused back on his eyes. You found nothing else, just a mix of whatever emotions you couldn't pull out of him. It irritated you. He looked like he could read you like an open book. You couldn't even guess what he was thinking.

Pissed off, you turned your grumpy face to stare at the watch around your wrist. You heard his voice, that sharp hum again, and immediately looked back at Sollux. There was a vague smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were locked down onto the screen of his phone again. You couldn't really tell if he was amused by you or something else.

It just pissed you off more.

Luckily, though, you didn't have the time to throw him any snarky comments.

"Eridan Ampora and Sollux Captor?" You moved your gaze over to the opposite side of the room, greeted by a middle-aged woman giving you and Sollux a warm smile. He bounced up on his feet, and you did the same, glancing at the man beside you briefly. These people didn't appreciate it if you argued with your life partner, more less if you did it in public. Before Sollux could start his journey over to the woman, you took his hand in yours, squeezing slightly. You paid him no look as you walked over, attempting to look like you actually enjoyed it here, and shook her hand firmly as you introduced yourself. Sollux mimicked your actions, and she looked pleased as she lead the two of you in her office.

\---

That had been the longest hour of your whole life.

Apparently, it had been Sollux's as well, since by the time you were standing outside the building, he let out a sigh that screamed emotional exhaustion. You could relate.

You still held his hand in yours. Holding hands always felt nice, and although you knew you could do this ever day for the rest of your life now, you wanted to hold onto that feeling for a tad longer. Physical contact reassured you over and over again that you weren't alone, and from time to time, all you needed was constant reminding. You didn't really want to go back home all alone; after socializing the whole morning, going back inside to pretend you were doing something important and productive while you just wandered around and attempted to read or work only got your anxiety to perk its head.

The thought of inviting Sollux over crossed your mind as you glanced at him over your shoulder. Surprisingly, he hadn't attempted to pull his hand away yet, nor had he showed any signs of leaving yet. He was tapping something on his phone, clearly absent.

"Do you wanna come over for dinner?" you asked out of the blue, catching his attention nearly immediately. He stopped typing and lifted his eyes on you, his brows furrowing fleetingly. "I was gonna make pasta if ya interested."

Sollux, surprisingly, gave a nonchalant shrug, and you're not sure if he had really pondered it or just went with your request. How could one person irritate you so much?

"Sure, I'm down."

You nodded and started to drag him over to your car, but he stopped you as he caught up with your intentions. "I came by my own car."

You felt a tad stupid, flustered, and let go of his hand. He seemed uneasy as well as he dug his keys out of the pocket of his jeans.

"Just drive behind me, yeah?"

You didn't really wait for an answer and you turned back to walk over to your car, hopping in without actually looking at Sollux at all. You had no idea which had been his car, or if he was even in his car yet, as you started the engine and headed to the exit. But, apparently, he had managed to catch up with you when you marked a car on your rear view mirror. You gripped the steering wheel and focused your mind onto the road (without much of a success).

As you turned to the dirt road that lead to your house, though, you managed to soothe your nerves a notch. The thought that soon you'd be back in a comfortable environment without having to worry about feeling lonely combined with the calm atmosphere was enough to calm you down. The snowing had stopped last night, but the sky was still covered in white like an untouched canvas. You hoped someone would paint it blue soon.

Sollux followed you closely, parking right next to your car, and you watched him step out of the car and sink his feet into the piles of snow. From his expression, you knew immediately that he either didn't like snow or that his shoes were completely drenched. No. Both. Definitely both. You couldn't spare him any sock to borrow (yours were too small for him), but you offered him a pair of wool socks that had been a gift from your grandma before she had passed away as you stepped inside. They were too big for you, anyway. Sollux gladly accepted them and peeled off his socks, looking around for a spot where he could toss them. With a scoff, you took the pair and hung them in the bathroom.

You wondered whether you should offer Sollux a tour around the house, but he seemed to be doing that all by himself. He glanced in the bathroom and living room, even up at the trap in the ceiling that lead to the attic. The only thing he seemed to leave alone was the closed door of your bedroom before he followed you to the kitchen. He sat down, eyeing the unopened mail on the table.

"Sweet house. No neighbors, gotta love it," he tried to open the conversation. You had your back turned to him as you piled ingredients for your meal from the cabins, setting the water on the stove to boil it.

"That's why I moved here. If I ever gotta deal with pissy neighbors one more time I swear I'll shove their foot up their ass sideways." Back in college, you had been that pissy neighbor, but you never admitted it to anyone, and you probably wouldn't do that in the future, either. Or then it was just your superiority complex spiking up, who knows.

Sollux merely barked out a snort, and you caught his shaking his head as you stole a glimpse. "Preach it, man. Glad I'll get rid of my flat soon."

Usually you were able to babble like never before, but now you had no idea what you were supposed to say. You tossed the pasta in the boiling water and continued to cut the onions, blinking the tears from your eyes as you squinted down. You startled and nearly dropped the knife as you heard Sollux's voice behind you.

"I can help if you want."

You fumbled for a can of tomato purée and a packet of minced meat. "You can open those."

Sollux complied, and although he seemed clumsy and looked like he had no idea how to cook proper food, he at least tried. Your anger died down a tad and you tossed the cut onion onto the frying pan with some virgin oil.

You let Sollux cook the meat while you set the table ready. You had always imagined it'd be nice to cook with your significant other and admittedly, you had to confirm that it actually was nice. Your gaze trailed up to watch Sollux by the stove when you folded the napkins and set the cutlery down neatly. He had a slight frown on his face as he moved the meat around, mixing it with the onion.

You took care of the rest of the sauce when he managed to throw half of the meat onto the stove.

\---

"When do you want to get married?"

You nearly chocked on the pasta. Sollux looked a tad concerned as you swallowed down some red wine (he had taken milk, said wine gave him migraines) and shot him a glance. You didn't answer right away and just proceeded to stare out of the window. It had started to snow again, and you had to abandon your hopes for a blue sky.

"Spring," you eventually answered and turned back to enjoy your meal, curling some spaghetti around your fork before dipping it into the sauce. The conversation died down after Sollux had just nodded.

He gave you a chaste kiss on the corner of your mouth before he left.


	3. 61

_You sat down on the couch as you let go of Sollux's hand, setting your bag beside yourself and throwing one of your legs over the other. He took his place next to you and the soft cushions sunk a tad on your left. You attempted to give the woman, who sat down on a comfy chair behind her desk, a pleased smile. It felt odd on your face, since you smiled so rarely, and your cheeks screamed in pain. Your heart was beating again, but then again, you were pretty sure the beats against your ribcage hadn't calmed down at all ever since you had woken up. You nearly wanted to vomit from the sheer anxiety (it wasn't anything new, though)._

_"Alright," she mused, her gaze locked down as she flicked through a couple of papers. She, then, looked back up at the two of you and crossed her fingers, setting her hands onto the surface of the desk. Her expression was warm and genuine, which gave you some comfort. It reminded you of Feferi. "Congratulations on your choice. Here in Matchmaker we think you'll be the perfect couple to help our country to reach financial stability. As explained in your letters, it'll be a great help to approve your and your children's everyday life."_

_She scanned her papers again, and you had dared to drop the smile. It was a serious issue, for her, you guessed, so it was only appropriate to seem serious enough. From the corner of your eye, you marked that Sollux had done the same. You took his hand in yours again and squeezed, drawing his attention back to you._

_"We're glad," you said, nearly cheerful, and squinted your eyes fleetingly at Sollux. He seemed to catch the hint._

_"Yes," he agreed, throwing the woman a smile of sorts. She seemed pleased by the comment and scribbled something down onto the papers. It would be the best to act it all up; you had heard of people who had started shit down in the registrar, and the stories didn't have pretty endings._

_"That is good to hear. Would you like to hear some history from our organisation?" You gave a nod. Lick ass like there's no tomorrow and you'll get out of here sooner._

_Or not so sooner. The woman went on and on and on about the inventor of the system, and by the time she was finished, your attention was slipping somewhere. You caught it, just barely, and nodded briefly as she finished her story. It was filled with lies, and you knew only half of it was barely true how fantastic a system this was. For the government, perhaps, but not for the people who were forced through this._

_"Do you have any questions by far? No? Alright. What we'll start with is the two of you moving in together. I understood Mr. Captor will move in with you?" she looked over at you._

_"Yes."_

_"The required time given to you from now on is two weeks, unless you have complaints. To prolong the time, you'll need to get a permission for us. Do you have any complaints right now?"_

_"No."_

_"Excellent. From there on, you are given eight months to arrange your wedding. You are allowed to decide the date yourself. Are there any further questions about this?"_

_You and Sollux shook your heads, but inside you were screaming. Eight months? You were supposed to plan your one and only wedding ceremony in eight months? Your heart squeezed, like someone had just sat on your chest._

_"We'll send someone for a visit in three weeks, they'll be happy to explain further issues and answer your questions if anything rises to your mind. Now, I think that was it. Have a good day."_

\---

You puffed out the smoke along with a long sigh, watching absently as the cars drove past. You hardly paid attention to the loud traffic, though, and focused more on breathing in and out, in an even rhythm, to let your veins fill with nicotine. It was a stress-reliever, and although you knew it wasn't exactly the greatest coping mechanism with the over-spilling anxiety, it did its job fearly effectively. The wind cut you off mid-way, though, as the strong breeze washed over you and put out the cigarette. You grumbled but instead od litting it up again, just tossed the half-smoked roll into the ashtray to head back inside. You rubbed your hands together to get the blood to flow properly again as you entered the elevator, greeting a co-worker during your journey up to the eleventh floor. Although work felt like hell today, you had come today, anyway. Productivity got your mind off certain things.

And your father was going to be there the whole day.

You placed a couple of knocks on his door as you reached the end of the hallway, waiting for his approval to enter.

"Come on in!"

You opened the door and spotted your father sitting at his desk, sipping on steaming coffee while typing something on his laptop.

"Hey, Dad, can I speak to you?"

"Eridan, come on in. Did you take care of that phone call."

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"Fine, they promised half of their profit. But that's not what I'm here about."

The elder Ampora set his mug down and you watched it for a moment or two. It was a father's day gift from you you had made in fourth grade. You had written "#1 DAD" on it with clumsy handwriting, and you knew there was your name on the bottom of it. You still didn't believe he used that. Your eyes moved back up to your father; his expression was firm and serious, like yours. Everyone always noted how similar the two of you seemed to be.

"What is it?" Your father had never been the most patient person, especially if it disturbed his work at all. But he knew you knew that, and wouldn't bother him if it wasn't important. It was actually a bit depressing.

You had practiced your line in front of the mirror the whole evening, and constantly repeated it while making coffee in the morning. It had been ringing in your ears when you woke up and smoked and you swear someone in the traffic had mouthed it to you when you had driven to work.

"I'm gettin' married."

Your father had the exact same reaction you had had when you had opened that letter a week back. His chair, however, had wheels, and instead of wobbling around, it shot back and bumped gently against the glass of the enormous window that opened a scenery of the whole city (or at least the good part of the city). His eyes had widened, you marked, and he rounded his desk to walk over to you.

"Did you finally receive that letter?"

You just nodded.

"When?"

"'Bout a week ago."

"And you're tellin' me _just now_?"

You took a deep breath, only to puff the air through your nose. He was frowning, just like you, and for a moment you were pretty sure you were staring in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get the chance, a-"

"You know how serious this is, Eridan, I always assumed you'd tell me right away."

"I had a hard time copin' with it myself," you snapped, your voice sharp and cutting the nice, ease atmosphere into pieces. Your father narrowed his eyes a tad. "An' I ain't gonna argue about this, why are you makin' this so fuckin' complicated, it's my life, not yours, an' I was gonna tell you when I got shit figured out myself!"

You realized you had rose your voice after every word so much you were nearly yelling at him. The anxiety in your soul was dripping and swelling, quickly turning into burning red anger as you stared at your father straight in the eye. He was spitting words back at you, but you have no idea what he was saying. Your brain didn't progress a single vowel, but you didn't care, you saw red and wanted to direct it all right on someone, and your father happened to be the only person there.

A knock on the door ended your argument, and you snapped your eyes onto the door. Your father's queasy secretary was looking over at the two of you.

"Mr. Ampora, sir? I got the files you asked for?"

She had obviously heard the conversation between you and your father, but you tried to brush it off as you straightened your back and threw your shoulders back into correct posture. You marked you had balled your fists, and twiddled a couple of fingers back into place. The elder Ampora accepted the stack of papers and she left.

"Anyway," you said, more calmly as you shuffled over to the door. "His name is Sollux Captor. I'm bringin' him over for dinner tonight, since you're leavin' tomorrow again. Call Cro an' ask him to come as well."

He, rather grumpily, muttered an approbative answer and you left.

\---

"Is this honestly your best suit?"

"Uh. Yes?"

Your eyes scanned Sollux, up and down and up and down and up and down. You squinted at him a tad and he stared at you like you had just insulted his coding skills. Okay, his outfit wasn't that bad; neat and black, though his dress shirt had some wrinkles. You glanced at your watch briefly. Sadly, you didn't have the time to iron his shirt. But at least then you would've been fashionably late. But you still abandoned that idea and focused back on him instead. His tie was screaming blue, and it nearly hurt your eyes. Maybe you could borrow him one of yours.

"Take off your tie," you gestured towards it, and he grimaced, rolling his mismatching eyes, but complied with a couple of complaints.

"How demanding can your dad be?" he asked and pulled the tie off, handing it over. You gladly took that hideous thing and walked to the bedroom to find something more fitting.

"Sorry I fuckin' want us to clash," you snapped back, swinging through your collection. Sollux was following you close behind, hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants. You tried a couple of ties against his chest. They were lighter, though still blue, and eventually picked one and lifted it up on your eye-level.

"How does this look with my eyes?"

Sollux leaned down a tad to squint at your face, eventually snorting as he straightened his back again.

"First you insult my outfit and then ask me for tips? Harsh, dude."

With a scoff, you threw the tie over his neck and tugged at it a tad to tie it around his neck. "It has nothin' to do with your hideous fashion sense, I was just checkin' you ain't fuckin' blind."

Unpleased by your snarky attitude, Sollux adjusted the tie and watched as you changed your own one as well, a shade of a bit darked blue. You grabbed your phone and wallet from the desk and carefully slid them in your pockets before hurried Sollux out of the room and back to the front door. "Let's go already. Your car, I ain't feel like drivin'."

Soon, you were sitting in his small, run-down car. You didn't like it, at all. He had either gotten it used or wrecked it completely himself. It seemed old, and smelt a bit stuffy and your eyes narrowed when you heard a suspicious sound from the front as Sollux stepped on the gas.

"Are you sure this isn't breakin' down?" you asked, imagining a line of various car parts laying on the wet asphalt behind you. He just shook it off with a sly grin.

"Nah, don't worry about it."

You actually hoped you would've taken your car instead and let prayers fly in your head. Sollux had been right, though, as you pulled on your father's driveway, and you gladly hopped out. Sollux seemed a tad uneasy as you pressed the door bell and checked his tie was still properly on place. The door opened after some, and you greeted your father. He focused more on your fiancé, which you didn't mind at all. Sollux seemed to mind, though, and he reached out to shake your father's hand. His face looked a tad painful from your father's harsh grip and you wanted to kick him on the shin.

"Come on in," your father stepped aside and disappeared to the living room through the long hallway. Sollux turned to you briefly and you frowned at him.

"Just two hours on tops, don't look so awkward," you hissed, but turned your attention away when you heard your brother's voice.

"Eri! Long time no see!"

You barely got the chance to look at him properly before he gave you a hug and slapped his palm on your back. You suddenly remembered why you didn't like the way he greeted you and patted his back a couple times before eased away from the embrace.

"Cro, here's Sollux."

Cronus turned to look at Sollux, a grin of sorts splattered across his lips.

"Dang." He shook Sollux's hand nearly violently, and Sollux gave him a stupid grin in return. "I'm Cronus, nice to meet ya."

You caught a glimpse of Sollux rubbing his wrist when Cronus turned back to you. "So, how's it hanging?"

You mumbled out a haphazard "I'm fine" and asked about his wife.

"Oh, she couldn't make it tonight, working." Cronus shrugged and led the two of you to the kitchen. Your father had cooked some lobster sauce. Show off. You sat down and Sollux took his place next to yours, tossing you a rather confused look. You remember he had told you he knew nothing about fancy dinners; his family wasn't formal, or rich, on that matter. You hoped he didn't fuck it up by stuffing his mouth full of food and then trying to answer questions.

"Do you take red or white, Sollux?"

You turned to look at your fiancé. He stared at your father for a moment, clearly confused, before finally caught up.

"Oh, uh, white, please."

You wanted to slam your palm on your face, but resisted your urge and instead just offered him your glass. The eldest Ampora poured you some white wine as well before sat down in front of Sollux. Cronus was sitting by his side, casually sipping from his glass already. Your father, however, didn't pay mind to that. He focused on Sollux as he urged you to dig in.

"So. What do you do for a livin'?"

Sollux tossed some food on his plate and grabbed his cutlery, clearing his throat. "I desing web pages for various companies."

"Interestin'. You went to college, though, didn't you?"

Sollux nodded, swallowing. "Yeah. I have a Master's degree from computer engineering."

Your father nodded, clearly pleased. You wanted to gag and roll your eyes. There was no point in this. You had to marry Sollux, so in the end, did it really matter if your father approved or not. You weren't even sure if you approved. Sure, questioning was a good way to come to know him, and maybe you could learn this experience as well, but why did it have to be so formal. You didn't mind, but it was making Sollux uncomfortable, and you didn't want to isolate yourself from your whole family just because your soon-to-be husband grew out to dislike your father. Well, you weren't sure about that yet, but you could never know.

Your mind passed through the casual chit-chat, you didn't really bother to participate since your opinion wasn't really appreciated, but you threw in your comments from time to time. You were probably acting like a fucking baby about this, but you didn't particularly care.

"When are you movin' in together?"

Sollux glanced at you briefly.

"Next Saturday," you replied. You had talked about it with Sollux already. He had something going on the weekend after that, and you definitely didn't want to think about that on a weekday right after work, so you had settled on that. "Talkin' a' which, we need'ta borrow a van somewhere."

"I got ya covered, lil' man, don't worry," Cronus interrupted with a sly grin, waving his hand casually. "A friend of mine got one, I'll let ya borrow it. Bring it over after work on Friday, ya?"

"Sure, thanks."

You finished the rest of the dinner in near silence before moved to the living room for a coffee. Sollux drank his black without sugar; you pressed that in your mind.

"Well, they're not horrible," Sollux eventually said as you walked back to the car. You scoffed, but were somehow grateful he hadn't completely judged your whole family. You had lit up a cigarette to calm your nerves and dragged it in quickly before hopped back into that hideously small and dangerous car.

Again, Sollux gave you a chaste kiss on the corner of your mouth before he left. You had learned to grow fond of that gesture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> due to personal reasons there won't be an update next week.


End file.
